A newly released YouGov poll asked respondents who voted leave and remain in last year’s EUreferendum just how much they would be willing to sacrifice to get their chosen outcome. The results are striking.

The results asked remainers and leavers what they would give up in order to get their preferred outcome.

The 2,043 respondents who voted leave were asked the following:

“Regardless of whether you think such an occurrence is likely, would you consider significant damage to the British economy to be a price worth paying for bringing Britain out of the European Union?”

A striking total of 61% of such respondents said they would consider economic damage as a fair trade-off for taking the UK out of the EU. Just 20% said they would not. Older voters were significantly more likely to see it as a worthwhile price worth paying than younger voters, as were Conservative voters compared to Labour and Lib Dem Brexit-backers.

When Brexit-voters were asked “would you consider Brexit causing you or members of your family to lose their job to be a price worth paying” for Brexit, a significantly high total of 39% said they would while 38% disagreed.

The results show strong determination amongst Brexiteers for the chance to leave the EU even if it damages the economy – even parts of the economy that directly affect them.

Remainers were also asked similar questions. When asked if they would be willing to see economic damage in exchange for keeping the UK in the EU, 34% said they would while 38% said they would not.

They were also asked if they saw the potential for themselves or family members to lose their jobs as a fair exchange if it meant keeping the UK inside the EU, to which 18% said it would be a worthwhile sacrifice compared to the high 61% in disagreement.

On top of that, remainers were also asked if economic damage would be a price worth paying upon leaving the EU if it meant that politicians and voters who backed Brexit were taught a lesson. A total of 19% said they would be willing for this to happen while 64% disagreed.

Richard Wood

Richard Wood is a Masters student in Political Research at the University of Aberdeen and is Head of Media for campaign-group TalkPolitics. Other than politics, he is passionate about travel, running, and writing, as well as all things space-related.